Macy’s Gave Funds to 4 Civic Groups Before Closing Site

Macy’s, the department store giant, gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars in unsolicited grants to four community groups active in the Crenshaw area less than three weeks before abruptly closing its store at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

Leaders of at least three of those organizations said Thursday that they suspect the $360,000 given in grants Dec. 17 was either money to keep them from speaking out against the closure, or a gift to ease the conscience of Macy’s executives.

The Crenshaw store was seen as a dynamo to attract sorely needed redevelopment and jobs in the predominantly black neighborhood. Its closure--announced the same day as the closing of a store in Westwood--caught residents by surprise.

Brenda Shockley, president of Community Build Inc., was one of three group representatives who said they are strongly considering giving the money back. Community Build was pledged $90,000 to be paid over three years.

Other recipients were Danny Bakewell, head of Brotherhood Crusade, awarded $60,000 over three years, and John Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League, promised $150,000 over the same period.

The fourth grant recipient was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, which will get $60,000 over three years.

“They were trying to assuage their conscience,” said Genethia Hayes, SCLC president. “I think they knew. I think they were trying to make some kind of gesture as they made a business decision with Macy’s.”

Hayes said her group plans to keep the money, but others are still undecided.

“I’m not willing to accept this money until I know there’s a reasonable and responsible solution that’s acceptable to the community,” Bakewell said. “Anything less than that would be irresponsible on our part. It would be tantamount to receiving blood money.”

Mack disagreed, saying he thought the donation and subsequent closing “was an unfortunate coincidence. Frankly I just think they were ill-advised. It was a very inept way of managing a situation.”

Macy’s announced the closing of its store in Westwood Village and at the Crenshaw mall in a Jan. 9 press release, saying the stores were not doing well financially.

Employees of the Crenshaw store found out it was permanently closed when they arrived for work. The announcement was posted on signs at the door.

Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents the area and fought to keep the store open, was told of the decision in a phone call from mall executives.

Macy’s Senior Vice President Louis Meunier, who delivered the checks in December, did not return several telephone calls to his San Francisco office seeking comment.

A Macy’s West Coast representative, Rina Neiman, instead faxed copies of three news releases, including one from Dec. 22 that announced the cash gifts of $820,000 to nine agencies, including those in the Crenshaw district.

Macy’s Chairman Michael Steinberg explained the grants in the release, saying: “By supporting their innovative programs at a time when there is tremendous demand for skilled workers, we are helping to build the diverse work force that California needs.”

Bakewell said Macy’s, a division of Federated Department Stores of New York and Cincinnati, should honor that commitment by helping find another tenant for the mall. He said the company also should promote a development program that leads to new neighborhood jobs. Mack and Shockley agreed.

“The way the closing was handled,” said Mack of the Urban League, “was a textbook example of how not to go about closing a store and how not to deal with a community as an employer. To show up and be informed that the store is closed, that is a shabby way to treat one’s employees. I’m very critical of Macy’s.”

Macy’s apparently first tried to give the money away anonymously. The corporation hired a public relations company to act as a broker for the grants, said Hayes.

“What I was told was that there was a client who wanted to remain anonymous who wanted to give a grant to SCLC,” Hayes said. “I was uncomfortable. They said they would come for a site visit. I thought it might be a foundation. The day prior to the site visit, they said they weren’t going to come for a site visit. Next we were told we were invited to a meeting at the Urban League. At that meeting it was revealed it was Macy’s.”

Reginald Chappel, the SCLC’s chief operations officer who attended the Urban League meeting, said Macy’s executive Meunier walked into the Urban League office, passed out four envelopes and walked out.

“It was a 10-minute deal,” Chappel said. “No speech, nothing. In fact, we all walked to our cars together.”

Shockley said she asked Meunier “how our Macy’s store was doing.” As she recalled, he said it was performing poorly, which was well known, but said nothing else.

It was not known whether Meunier knew on the day he handed out the money that the company was planning to close the store.

Looking back, activists say they have reason to believe he did. They said Macy’s was an unsolicited first-time donor to all but the Urban League.

Group representatives said they had not thought to approach Macy’s in the past because, as far as they knew, the corporation had no foundation to dispense grants.

“They’ve never given money to our organization,” said Shockley of Community Build. “This was the first time. The timing of it all, and the manner in which the store was closed, raises questions. Then you factor in the contributions, which were not solicited, and you can’t help but wonder.”